23 Slow Cooker Meals to Make Your Winter Nights So Much Easier (and Cozier!)

All you need for this "baked" ziti is dried ziti pasta, marinara sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella. It's cheesy, saucy, pasta-y goodness in every bite.

The Kitchn's Patty Catalano promises that this slow cooker version of Hamburger Helper is "even easier than the boxed version." Ground beef, tender pasta, and a cheesy tomato sauce make for such a satisfyingly cozy meal.

Pasta e fagioli is simple Italian comfort food at its finest. This version starts with dried beans, so you'll need to cook it for 10 to 12 hours. Also don't forget to cook the pasta separately before adding it to the slow cooker! That's the key to perfectly al dente pasta and still plenty of delicious broth.

These chicken Parm meatballs cook right in the sauce (use your favorite jarred marinara!). In the last 15 minutes of cooking you'll add the shredded mozzarella so it gets nice and melted. Serve over pasta or in rolls — whichever your family prefers!

Mississippi pot roast is often made with a combination of seasoning mix packets, butter, and pickled pepperoncini peppers. This version is still just as easy and straightforward as the original (just 15 minutes of prep!), but it uses pantry ingredients instead of the seasoning packets to help dial down the salt level.

For a more classic pot roast, it doesn't get better than this six-ingredient version. Demi glace concentrate is the smart pantry item that gives this pot roast the most delicious gravy.

This recipe yields super-tender chicken — so tender, in fact, that you can shred the chicken thighs directly in the slow cooker (one fewer dish to wash)! The fun part comes at the end, when everyone can dress up their bowls to their liking. Lime, avocado, tortilla chips, and sour cream are all great toppings.

This satisfying, vegetarian lentil soup is a great example of the "set it and forget it" motto of the slow cooker. You simply add all your ingredients to the slow cooker, and let it cook on low until the veggies and lentils are tender.

This recipe is all about the simple sauce, which requires only four ingredients: brown sugar, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, and cornstarch. Combine that with the chicken, peppers, and onion and you've got a delightfully sweet-tangy main. Serve it with rice and some steamed broccoli!

When it comes to congee, the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. When you let long-grain white rice, water, chicken thighs, and fresh ginger cook low and slow, you get the most comforting, nourishing dish that you can either eat as is or doctor up with some sliced scallions and a drizzle of soy sauce.

The process of making lasagna can be laborious and time-consuming, but this slow cooker version fixes all that by turning those signature lasagna ingredients — noodles, marinara, ground beef — into a soup. Once you ladle the soup into bowls, top with shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, and torn fresh basil leaves.

Another spin on lasagna — except this time we're using ravioli, which is ingenious because they already come stuffed with cheese. All you have to do is layer frozen ravioli (straight from the freezer — no need to thaw!) with a simple tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese in the slow cooker, and you've got an instant classic on your hands.

This dish is basically like a loaded baked potato, in creamy soup form. Serve up big comforting bowls, and let each family member choose their favorite toppings. Sour cream, bacon, cheddar cheese, and scallions are all great choices!

This pork roast cooks over a bed of carrots and baby potatoes, so it's really a full meal in one. The combination of honey, balsamic vinegar, chicken broth, and cornstarch helps to create the irresistibly sweet and tangy sauce that coats everything as it cooks.

Sure, the slow cooker is great for making chili (we have beef and white chicken chili recipes to prove it!), but when you combine that with the kid-favorite mac and cheese, you're really using this small appliance to its fullest potential.

This recipe yields a big batch of soup, so you can get a jump-start now and freeze it for those days when everyone is feeling under the weather (sick season is upon us!). There's even extra broth and water in this particular recipe, so you can cook the noodles right in there instead of having to boil them in a separate pot.

Beef stew, packed with tender potatoes and carrots, is such a classic winter warmer. Instead of having to brown the beef to build flavor, this recipe smartly has you add umami-packed ingredients like tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce to save a step (and extra dishes). It's truly a dump-and-cook dinner!

If your family loves chicken pot pie, then they'll love this slow cooker soup recipe. It has all the same flavors, without any of the fuss. Just make sure to serve it with some biscuits for dunking — that way they won't miss the pot pie's signature flaky crust!

When I'm looking for a satisfying vegetarian dinner, I often turn to stuffed peppers. What I don't do, however, is cook those peppers in tomato sauce. But after seeing this recipe, I'm not sure why I've never tried it — it looks delicious! These peppers are stuffed with black beans, quinoa, and zucchini, so they have plenty of protein and veggie power.

Homemade mac and cheese is always the answer on a cold winter night, and this slow cooker version will help you get it on the table in just a couple of (mostly hands-off!) hours. You'll be left with a dreamy, creamy mac and cheese that will have everyone at the table asking for seconds.

Between the sun-dried tomatoes and the (jarred!) Alfredo sauce, this chicken has all the '90s vibes — in a good way — that might be nostalgic for you, and a fun way to help your kiddo discover a new favorite flavor profile. Serve it over pasta, and you've got dinner!

Beef Stroganoff is an easy way to make an inexpensive cut of beef into something rich and luxurious. Serve it over buttered egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or polenta for a hearty meal that everyone will love.

What could be better than tender chicken and vegetables in a creamy sauce, all crowned with pillowy dumplings? A hands-off version of chicken and dumplings that's cooked in a Crock-Pot. (Yes, even the dumpling dough gets dropped right on top and cooks with everything else in the last 90 minutes!)